Gold-separator.



PATENTED DEG. 20, 1904.

T. POLLOCK.

GOLD SEPARATOR.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 1. 1903.

NO MODEL.

'l blllllllllll Wifgqsm @5% UNITED STATES Patented December 20, 1904.

PATENT OEEICE.

THOMAS POLLOOK, OF SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- THIRD TO CHARLES O. RIOS, OF SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA.

GOLD-SEPARATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 777,803, dated December 20, 1904. Application filed June 1, 1903. Serial No. 159,644.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS PoLLooK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Santa Barbara, in the county of Santa Barbara and State of California, have invented a new and useful Gold-Separator, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to gold-separators.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus for the separation of fine particles of gold from sand with which the said particles are mixed by forcing the mixture of sand and gold through a body of mercury contained within a suitable receptacle, a stream of water being used to force the mixture of sand and particles of gold through the mercury.

With the object above stated and others in View, which will appear as the invention is more fully disclosed, the same consists, generally stated, in the construction and combination of parts of a gold-separator hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this speciication, it being understood that changes in the form, proportions, and exact mode of assemblage of the elements therein exhibitedmay be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

In the drawing there is shown, partly in elevation and partly in section, a separator constructed in accordance with this invention.

Referring to the drawing, l designates a hopper into which the sand containing the particles of gold is introduced. At the bottom of the hopper is located a feed-valve 2, which may be of any preferred form and through which the mixture of sand and line particles of gold passes downward into the pipe 3. Opening into the pipe 3 a short distance below the hopper 1 is a water-inlet tube 4, disposed downward, as shown, in order to give to the current of water entering the pipe 3 the proper direction. A hose 5 or other suitable conduit is attached to the tube 4, and the water is discharged through it into the pipe 3 with the required velocity, which may be obtained by gravity or by means of a forcepump, according to circumstances. The pipe 5 o 3 is approximately U-shaped, as shown, and

at the other end thereof is mounted a mercury-chamber 6, which is preferably of globular form, as shown, and has at one side thereof a glass gage 7, supported in brackets 8, which serves to show the height of the mercury within the chamber. At the top of the gage 7 is provided an inlet-valve 9 in a suitable funnel 10, which forms means for introducing mercury within the chamber as required. In the pipe 3 below the chamberl 6 is provided a valve 11, which may be of any preferred form and which serves to prevent the escape of mercury from the chamber before it is needed.

On top of the chamber 6 there is swiveled a discharge-pipe 12, through which the stream of water containing the sand from which the gold has been removed by the amalgamating action of the mercury contained in the chamber passes out from the chamber and is conveyed to any suitable point of deposit.

In the bottom of the bend of the U-shaped pipe 3 is provided a branch pipe 13, closed by a suitable plug 14, which may be secured thereto in any desired manner, as by screwthreads, as shown.

The entire separator is supported in a suitable frame, (designated generally as 15,) and the proper level of the mercury in the cham- 8O ber prior to starting the separator is indicated .by a dotted line at 16.

The operation of the separator is as follows: A suitable quantity of mercury having been introduced into the chamber 6 and the hopper 8 5 1 having been charged with gold-bearing sand, the valve 2 at the bottom of the hopper and the valve 11 beneath the mercury-chamber will be opened, allowing the sand and the mercury to pass downward into the U-shaped pipe 3. A current of water of sufcient strength will then be allowed to enter the conduit 5, and the auriferous sand will be forced through the pipe 3 upward through the mercury-chamber 6 and thence out through 95 the escape-pipe 12. As the operation continues the mercury in the chamber will gradually be come charged with the particles of gold contained in the sand which are caught by the mercury in the passage of the sand through the chamber 6, and when it is judged that the mercury has become suiiiciently charged with gold the operation of the separator will be stopped by closing the valve 2, cutting off the current of water, and opening the branch pipe 13 at the bottom of tube 2 by removing the plug 14 therefrom, and the mercury charged with gold will be allowed to escape through the branch pipe into any suitable receptacle. The plug 14 will then be replaced, a new `supply of mercury will be introduced into the chamber 6, through the chargingvalve 9, the valve 11 having previously been closed,'and thc operation of the separator will be continued in the manner above specified.

The amalgam or' gold and mercury withdrawn through the branch pipe 13 when cap 14 is removed will be carried to any suitable reduction plant and there treated in the usual way to extract the gold from the amalgam.

The excess of space in the globular mercurychamber 6 over that occupied by the mercury, as indicated by dotted line 16, permits the mercury to settle to the bottom of the chamber and the mixture of water and sand to rise to the top oi' the mercury in the chamber and become entirely separated from the mercury prior to the passage ot' the water and sand out through the escape-pipe 12, thus preventing any loss or' gold with the outflow of the current bearing the exhausted sand with it.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is#

1. In a gold-separator, the combination oi' a U-shaped pipe having its arms of different lengths, and disposed vertically, a sand-hopper carried by the longer arm, a Valve in the bottom of the hopper, a water-inlet tube beneath and adjacent to the valve and disposed obliquely to the pipe, a normally sealed discharge-outlet arranged in the lowest part of the bend or' the pipe, a mercury-chamber carried by the shorter arm of the pipe, a valve in the pipe beneath the chamber, and an outlet-pipe at the top of the chamber.

2. In a gold-separator, the combination or' a lU-shaped pipe having its arms of different lengths, and disposed vertically, a sand-hopper carried by the longer arm, a valve in the bottom of the hopper, a water-inlet tube beneath and adjacent to the valve and disposed obliquely to the pipe, a normally sealed discharge-outlet arranged in the lowest part of the bend of the pipe, a mercu ry-chamber carried by the shorter'arm of the pipe, a valve in the pipe beneath the chamber, an outletpipe at the top of the chamber, a combined gage and charging pipe connecting with the chamber near its bottom, a funnel carried by the gage, and means for closing the bottom of the funnel.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS POLLOCK.

Witnesses:

WV. S. DAY, S. E. GRow. 

